CAPE MAY, NJ 1800’s HISTORY “HO! FOR CAPE ISLAND” 1956 1st EDITION ~ SIGNED COPY

Description

CAPE MAY, NJ 1800’s HISTORY “HO! FOR CAPE ISLAND” 1956 1
st
EDITION ~ SIGNED COPY ~ CLEAN
This week on Ebay we are offering up this very nice, signed, first edition copy of “Ho! For Cape Island” written in 1956 by Robert Crozier Alexander.
This is an original signed, inscribed first edition copy. Dark blue cloth binding. Silver Gilt lettering to the cover and spine. No dust jacket. A beautiful, clean, tight, square copy.
It is inscribed to “Betty” wishing her a happy birthday and wishing that the book keeps her memory of a 1957 Summer visit to the island alive. The book is neatly signed in blue pen by the author on the title page.
TITLE:
‘HO! FOR CAPE ISLAND”
AUTHOR: ROBET CROZIER ALEXANDER
EDITION: SIGNED, DEDICATED FIRST EDITION COPY ~ 1956
DARK BLUE CLOTH COVER w/ SILVER GILT TITLES ~ MISSING DUST JACKET
PUBLISHER: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
PRINTER: EDWARD STERN & COMPANY
This book is basically about the 19
th
Century history of Cape May, New Jersey, one of America’s earliest seaside resorts and most popular summer retreats. The title of the book comes from early advertising press for a Philadelphia Steam Ferry Line that would shuttle people over to the island from the city.
The book tells the fascinating history of the small resort town of Cape May, from its earliest discovery by Dutch Explorers in the 1600’s up through its Summer Resort heyday in the mid 1800’s, right before the outbreak of the Civil War.
The book talks about the development of the community of Cape Island, an early name for Cape May, and how it became the famous resort town that it still is today.
The book mostly focuses on the ‘vintage’ Cape May of the mid-1800’s. It is written from a historical point of view but incorporates actual memoirs, diaries, period newspaper and historical records to make the history come alive and have a local, personal touch. Sort of a personalized history of the resort town from a mid-19
th
Century perspective.
Each chapter tells a different perspective on all the great things that make Cape May the quaint little resort town that it is.
The book tells what it was like to be a guest there in the mid-1800s.
It gives the story of many of its famous buildings, houses, estates, hotels, inns and government buildings. It tells of visitor’s journeys to the small island community by ship and stagecoach.
It talks about the establishment of the famous Lighthouse. It talks of the social and cultural development of the town’s schools, churches and government. It talks of the roots of many of the grand Victorian homes on the island. It gives personal accounts of visits to the resort town by people from different eras; the 1820s, 1840’s and 1860s.
The book also contains many beautiful illustrations that add visual impact to the excellent, informative writing.
The book ends around the time the Town of Cape Island officially changed its name to Cape May in 1869.
~~~
BRIEF HISTORY OF CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY
Cape Island and Cape May were named after the Dutch Explorer, Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch sea captain who explored the Delaware Bay and River in his ship Glad Tidings. Mey became the first director-general of the territory claimed by the Dutch (most of New Jersey) in 1623.
Cape Island received its name because it was separated from the mainland of the southern tip of New Jersey by a small creek. Later, the small creek, Cape Island Creek, was dredged and widened making Cape Island a true Island. In 1699, George Eaglesfield built a causeway connecting the island with the mainland.
The first town, a whaling village existed on the cape by the 1690’s, perhaps as early as 1650. The Whalers congregated on a high bluff overlooking the point where Delaware Bay met the Atlantic Ocean. The whales disappeared from the Delaware Bay by 1700.
By 1801, there were ads in the Philadelphia Daily Newspapers advertising Cape Island as a seaside resort. The Atlantic Hotel placed ads and ran daily trips from 1806-1811.
The town really took off as a summer destination after the arrival of steam powered boats.
Cape May City was a thriving seaside community, attracting many politicians and many wealthy plantation owners. Huge hotels were built, some accommodating as many as 2,000 guests. There were gambling casinos and horse racing on the beach.
After the Civil War, frequent train service and savvy marketing to the Philadelphia and New York area revived Cape May as a seaside resort. A great fire in 1878 destroyed most of the city, but the wealthy vacationers did not abandon their vacation site. Nearly all the buildings in Cape May were built or rebuilt during this ‘Victorian Age’.
The name was changed to the City of Cape May in 1875.
In the early days of World War II the military cut the Cape May Canal through from the Cape May Harbor to the Delaware Bay in order in enhance military operations for the Navy. That meant you had to cross 2 waterways to get out to the tip of Cape May. Cape Island is really an island within an island and has been since World War II. This made Cape May a quite isolated, quiet little community, just like it remains today.
A hurricane swept through Cape May City in 1962. It destroyed the boardwalk, convention center and most of the beachfront. Again Cape May City was rebuilt. The Victorian homes were still intact, but they built a new convention center and boardwalk. The extension of the Garden State Parkway into Cape May City, the advent of the ferry to Delaware and the designation of the City as a Historic District have led to the rise again of a great resort town. In 1976, Cape May was declared a National Historic Landmark City.
The year-round population of Cape May is about 4,700, a number that has varied little for over a hundred years. That number can swell to more than 40,000 on some summer weekends.
Today, Cape May thrives on its history, architecture and beaches. It is the “Nation’s Oldest Seashore Resort.”
~~~
This book is very interesting and is a fascinating history of the area. It would be an ideal Summer reading book, especially if you were vacationing on one of New Jersey’s many beaches, or even visiting Cape May itself.
A relatively rare, self-published book from 1956. A signed First Edition as well. You’ll love it.
~~~
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